Sporting goods item for winter sports use

ABSTRACT

A pair of pants, either short or long legged, is made of synthetic plastic material and provided on its seat with one or two guide ribs extending lengthwise of the legs so that a wearer may sit with these pants on snow and slide over the snow, influencing his direction of movement by means of the guide ribs.

United States Patent Poik [451 Jan. 25, 1972 [54] SPORTING GOODS ITEM F OR WINTE SPORTS USE {72] Inventor: Franz Poik, Frauenfelderstrasse 20a, 8370 Sirnach, Thurgau, Switzerland [22] Filed: Aug. 28, 1970 [21] App1.No.: 67,852

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Sept. 3, 1969 Switzerland ..13446/69 [52] U.S. CI ..280/12, 2/277, 2/23, 280/1 [51] Int. Cl ..B62b 13/04 [58] Field of Search ..280/12; 2/27'7 X, 238, 80, 23 X [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,219,905 10/1940 Prickman ..280/12 Primary Examiner- Leo Friaglia Assistant Examiner-Robert R. Song Attorney-Michael S. Striker 57] ABSTRACT A pair of pants, either short or long legged, is made of synthetic plastic material and provided on its seat with one or two guide ribs extending lengthwise of the legs so that a wearer may sit with these pants on snow and slide over the snow, influencing his direction of movement by means of the guide ribs.

17 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures PATENTEU JAHZS I972 Fig. 'I

INVENTOR.

SPORTING GOODS ITEM FOR WINTER SPORTS USE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to sporting goods items, and more particularly to a novel item for use in winter sports.

It is hardly necessary to point out the great variety of winter sports items which are available in today's market. There is, for instance, any number of different sleds, bobsleds, so-called ski bobs, snow wings, and the like. All of these devices, however, require that the user stand or sit upon the respective device as the latter slides down over a snow-covered incline. The difficulty with this is that there is inevitably a certain danger involved for the user in these devices, and this danger may of course be greater or lesser depending on the speed at which the user descends over the snow-covered incline with the respective device. The possibility of bodily injury, whether significant or insignificant in nature, can never be precluded under these circumstances. The so-called snow wing," a flat saucerlike dish on which the user rests as the device-usually made of synthetic plastic material-slides downwardly over the snow-covered incline was developed to avoid certain of the dangers inherent in the other types of winter sports devices. However, it also has certain disadvantages including the fact that it is exceedingly difficult if not impossible to guide it to influence its direction of movement with any certainty. Furthermore, there is always the possibility that the user might inadvertently roll or fall off the dished device which is very shallow, so that the device would continue its descent alone and the user might be stranded on the snow covered incline or hill, which can be highly disadvantageous if not dangerous under certain circumstances, for instance if the snow is very deep and if the descent is very long.

All these problems are of course aggravated where relatively small children are involved in the use of these winter sports devices because they have inadequate skill and/or dexterity and/or knowledge for properly manipulating such devices.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to avoid the aforementioned disadvantages.

More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel sporting goods item for winter sports use to avoid these disadvantages.

Still more specifically it is an object of the present invention to provide such a novel sporting goods item for winter sports use which reduces the danger of injury in use to an absolute minimum and which provides for excellent control over its movements.

In pursuance of the above objects, and others which will become apparent hereafter, one feature of the invention resides, briefly stated, in the provision of the novel sporting goods item for sporting goods use in form of a garment adapted to encase at least the lower part of a human torso and the upper part of the thighs, such garment having a seat and consisting at least predominantly of at least moisture-retarding material. Guide means is provided on and integral with the exterior side of the seat for enabling the direction of movement of a wearer seated on and sliding over snow, to be controlled.

Preferably the material of the garment, which may be in form of short pants, long pants, but which may also for instance be in form ofa Coverall or the like, is a synthetic plastic which advantageously is in form of a foil or sheet material, such as polyethylene sheet material. The guide means is in form of either a single or plural guide ribs extending lengthwise of the legs of the pants, and it will be appreciated that if for instance two such guide ribs are provided they will be located at opposite sides of a centerline of the seat which also extends lengthwise of the legs and will be arranged symmetrically with reference to this centerline. The guide ribs may be of one piece with the seat, or they may be separate members which are suitably secured to the seat subsequently, for instance by welding, adhesive bonding or the like. Preferably but not necessarily, the seat may be provided at least in the regions where the ribs are secured to it, with one or more reinforcing portions which may but need not he coextensive in area with that of the seat itself. The ribs may be provided on such reinforcing portions, and again they may either be of one piece therewith or they may separate members suitably secured to the reinforcing portions as by bonding, welding or the like. The reinforcing portions themselves may be of one piece with the seat or they may be bonded, welded or otherwise secured to the seat.

Furthermore, it is advantageous to provide an elastically compressible cushioning insert on the interior side of the seat, and this insert may advantageously be made of synthetic plastic foam material or the like, the purpose being to prevent the wearer of the garment from physical injury, contusions or the like as he slides over rocks, branches, or other unevennesses in the surface on which he is seated. At the same time this insert has an additional function, namely to act as a thermal insulation. Of course, at least the seat and preferably the entire garment will be at least moisture retardant, and normally will be moisture impervious.

Finally, it is also advantageous to provide the open ends of the legs of the pants with closure means so that they can be closed when desired in order to prevent the undesired intrusion of snow, ice, water or even cold air while the user is sliding downwardly over an incline covered with snow.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a rear elevational view of an item according to the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. I, but illustrating a further embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Before discussing the two Figures, it is pointed out that both Figures show the novel item in rather diagrammatic form, this being all that is necessary for an understanding of the invention. Nonessential features have been omitted.

Coming now to a discussion of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. I it will be seen that the novel item according to the present invention is there shown in form of a pair of short pants, so-called shorts" as the colloquial expression has it. They have a waistband l and a main body portion 1 which is provided with the legs 2 and 3. The lower ends of the legs will be understood to be open in conventional manner.

Reference numeral 1" identifies the seat of these shorts, it being understood that the view in FIG. I is a rear view in which the seat will be visible. According to the present invention the seat I" in FIG. 1 is provided with two elongated guide ribs 4 and 5 located at opposite sides and symmetrical with reference to a centerline I"' which extends longitudinally of the legs 2 and 3 as illustrated. Advantageously but not necessarily, the guide ribs 4 and 5 have a width of approximately 6 cm. and a thickness-that is a depth in direction normal to the general plane of the seat l"of approximately 2 mm. However, these dimensions are to be understood as only exemplary. The pants shown in FIG. I are preferably so dimensioned that they will fit over the garments normally worn by a user, although it is of course conceivable to line them suitably and thus make them warm enough to replace conventional trousers, slacks or the like. However, it is best to wear these pants over regular winter garments, for instance over ski pants, or the like. Naturally, the pants according to the present invention will be provided with the usual features permitting them to be put on and removed readily, for instance a fly opening with buttons, snaps, zippers, or the like, just as in regular garments. It is possible. however, to elasticize the waistband 1 so that the pants may be used as slip-ons.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1 the guide ribs 4 and which in effect constitute runners similar to those of a sled or the like-are of one piece with the material of the pants.

The embodiment of FIG. 2 is analogous to that of FIG. 1. Like reference numerals identify like elements or components. Here, however, the guide ribs 4 and 5 are not directly provided on the seat as in FIG. 1; instead, they are provided on a reinforcing portion 6 which is provided on the exterior side of the seat and secured thereto in suitable manner as by bonding, adhesively, or otherwise, by welding or in other suitable manner. The portion 6 may be of the same material as the remainder of the pants and the guide ribs 4 and 5 may be of one piece with the portion 6 or they may be secured to the same as by bonding, welding or the like.

The lower open ends of the legs 2 and 3 are provided with closure means 7 and 8 of strap-shaped or band-shaped configuration, reminiscent of the waistband l, and which may be of elastic material which will tightly engage the legs of the wearer (or trousers which may be worn under the pants) or which may be provided with buckles or the like for drawing them tight. The purpose of these is, of course, as already pointed out before, to prevent the intrusion of snow, moisture and cold.

Utilizing the embodiment of FIGS. 1 or 2, or an embodiment modified in accordance with and within the scope of this concept, a user will seat himselfdirectly upon the snow or icecovered surface of an incline over which he wishes to move, in the same manner as if he were seating himself upon a sled, for instance, but of course in the absence of the sled. Moving downwardly over the incline speeds can be achieved which approximate those of a sled and the guide ribs 4 and 5 serve to guide the motions of the user, preventing lateral sliding and permitting controlled guidance of the movement by exerting requisite guidance functions with the heels or toes of the wearers boots or shoes in the same manner in which a sled is guided. Because the user is seated directly upon the surface of the snow, not upwardly spaced from it as the casein one of the known devices such as sleds, ski bobs, snow wings, or the like, the danger of injury from falling is largely eliminated because even if the wearer should fall over sideways he would only roll but would not impact from above on the surface. His body is protected against injury by the insert 9 which is illustrated in FlG. 2 but which may also be used in the embodiment of FIG. 1 and which preferably consists exclusively or predominantly of a synthetic plastic foam material and is advantageously at least coextensive with the seat, but can be smaller or larger.

It will be appreciated, of course, that the invention is primarily concerned with its use by children because of the aforementioned lack of skill, coordination and experience which children have for the use of the other and more dangerous winter sports devices discussed earlier. The item according to the present invention can be produced inexpensively and accordingly can be sold at a low price, bringing it within the reach ofmost everyone.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of constructions differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a winter sports article of manufacture, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifimeaningand range of equivalence of the following claims.

What rs claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims:

1. As a novel sporting goods item, a garment adapted to encase at least the lower part of a human torso and the upper parts of the thighs, said garment having a seat and consisting at least predominantly of at least moisture-retarding material; and guide means integral with the exterior side of said seat for enabling guidance of the direction of movement of a wearer seated on and sliding over snow.

2. An item as defined in claim 1, wherein said garment is configurated as a pair of pants having long legs.

3. An item as defined in claim 1, wherein said garment is configurated as a pair of pants having short legs.

4. An item as defined in claim 1, wherein said material is a synthetic plastic material.

5. An item as defined in claim 1, wherein said material is synthetic plastic sheet material.

6. An item as defined in claim 5, wherein said synthetic plastic sheet material is polyethylene.

7. An item as defined in claim 1, wherein said garment is configurated as a pair of pants having legs, and wherein said material is a synthetic plastic material.

8. An item as defined in claim 7, wherein said guide means comprises at least one guide rib provided on said seat and extending in direction longitudinally of said legs.

9. An item as defined in claim 7, wherein said seat has a centerline extending longitudinally of said legs, and wherein said guide means comprises a pair of guide ribs provided on said seat at opposite sides of said centerline symmetrically thereto and also extending longitudinally of said legs.

10. An item as defined in claim 8; and further comprising a reinforcing portion provided on and coextensive with at least a substantial part of said seat, said guide rib being provided on said reinforcing portion.

11. An item as defined in claim 10, said reinforcing portion being unitary with said seat.

12. An item as defined in claim 10, said reinforcing portion being a discrete member; and further comprising securing means securing said reinforcing portion to said seat.

13. An item as defined in claim 8, said guide rib being unitary with said seat.

14. An item as defined in claim 8, said guide rib being a discrete member; and further comprising securing means securing said guide rib to said seat.

15. An item as defined in claim 1; and further comprising an elastically compressible protective cushioning insert provided on said seat interiorly of said garment.

16. An item as defined in claim 15, wherein said insert is at least predominantly composed of foam rubber.

17. An item as defined in claim 7, wherein said legs have lower open ends; and further comprising closure means provided on said legs in the region of the respective lower open ends thereof for closing the same when desired. 

1. As a novel sporting goods item, a garment adapted to encase at least the lower part of a human torso and the upper parts of the thighs, said garment having a seat and consisting at least predominantly of at least moisture-retarding material; and guide means integral with the exterior side of said seat for enabling guidance of the direction of movement of a wearer seated on and sliding over snow.
 2. An item as defined in claim 1, wherein said garment is configurated as a pair of pants having long legs.
 3. An item as defined in claim 1, wherein said garment is configurated as a pair of pants having short legs.
 4. An item as defined in claim 1, wherein said material is a synthetic plastic material.
 5. An item as defined in claim 1, wherein said material is synthetic plastic sheet material.
 6. An item as defined in claim 5, wherein said synthetic plastic sheet material is polyethylene.
 7. An item as defined in claim 1, wherein said garment is configurated as a pair of pants having legs, and wherein said material is a synthetic plastic material.
 8. An item as defined in claim 7, wherein said guide means comprises at least one guide rib provided on said seat and extending in direction longitudinally of said legs.
 9. An item as defined in claim 7, wherein said seat has a centerline extending longitudinally of said legs, and wherein said guide means comprises a pair of guide ribs provided on said seat at opposite sides of said centerline symmetrically thereto and also extending longitudinally of said legs.
 10. An item as defined in claim 8; and further comprising a reinforcing portion provided on and coextensive with at least a substantial part of said seat, said guide rib being provided on said reinforcing portion.
 11. An item as defined in claim 10, said reinforcing portion being unitary with said seat.
 12. An item as defined in claim 10, said reinforcing portion being a discrete member; and further comprising securing means securing said reinforcing portion to said seat.
 13. An item as defined in claim 8, said guide rib being unitary with said seat.
 14. An item as defined in claim 8, said guide rib being a discrete member; and further comprising securing means securing said guide rib to said seat.
 15. An item as defined in claim 1; and further comprising an elastically compressible prOtective cushioning insert provided on said seat interiorly of said garment.
 16. An item as defined in claim 15, wherein said insert is at least predominantly composed of foam rubber.
 17. An item as defined in claim 7, wherein said legs have lower open ends; and further comprising closure means provided on said legs in the region of the respective lower open ends thereof for closing the same when desired. 